Ok. Obviously there are beaucoup de beaux jardins (lots of beautiful gardens) in France. I have a beautiful little book called “Quiet Corners of Paris” and I think I’ll try and find some of them. But I’m going to depart from “J” a little bit. I’m not just interested in formal “gardens”, but also parks and other outdoor spaces with beautiful views. My husband and I adore hiking, and from the reading I’ve been doing, Je crois que (I believe that) we will be able to enjoy a nice jambon-beurre (French-style sandwich with ham and butter…gosh, that sounds so much better in French!) and a beautiful view at the same time. So I think I’d like to “plan” that. I want to be careful not to plan too much, because (as I regress to the letter “I” ) it is often les choses Inattendues qui arrivent (unexpected things which happen) that make the best memories. So today’s post is a little bit vague, I guess, because I want to leave some moments for these things.

I think these will be some bons souvenirs of our trip, not too planned out, but almost par hasard (by chance). I know that on many trips that we’ve taken, it has been the things that we didn’t plan that turned out to be the things we treasured the most later on.

And you, dear A to Z-ers? Et vous ?

In your opinion, what is the best place in France to sit outside and peacefully enjoy a jambon-beurre ? Where did you find the best example of this simple sandwich?

12 Responses to “J is for un Jardin et un Jambon-beurre”

One of my fondest memories of our trips to France is of sitting in the gardens at Chateau d’ Chambord eating “car sandwiches” – a split baguette with brie, salami and radishes and washed down with a bottle of Orangina.

While traveling by rail or metro, I found Paul’s, in the tube/train stations to have very good and quick Jambon-beurre sandwiches. It’s kinda like a Starbucks as in being in a lot of different stations, as it’s a chain, but for a chain, it was very good, and not too pricy. Good coffee also! Too many places to sit outside and eat anything! There is always somewhere new to discover en France!

Oh my! How did I miss this post last time I popped by your blog? This is awesome, you are basically blogging about all my favourite things to eat and drink (my favourite thing to do!) – un bon Jambon-Beurre being one of them. When made with a good baguette, it’s one of those simple pleasures of life.

Can I recommend a restaurant whilst you’re in Paris? It actually serves food from the South, rather than parisien food, but there’s a particular dish they do which is DIVINE. And so simple. Steak, with aligot (mash made with tons and tons of cheese and some garlic, so that it’s this gooey, stringy deliciousness that is poured out of the copper pan it’s made in. If you google image it you’ll see what I mean).
The restaurant is called La Petite Perigourdine, in the 5eme arrondissement (which is also lovely to walk around in). It’s on trip advisor.